Fall events and activities

Partners in Excellence site visit

Over twenty psychology students visited Partners in Excellence, one of the largest autism treatment centers in Minnesota. Our visit to the center included:

A thorough presentation by the center

Three half-hour room observations

The opportunity to shadow individual children

A concluding question and answer session

Minnesota Northland Association for Behavior Analysis Conference

Ten students accompanied Dr. Wosmek attended this regional conference in St. Cloud. Students learned first-hand what a professional conference in psychology entails by attending individual presentations and a mid-day poster session. Additionally, two of our students volunteered to help organize the conference, gaining additional professional skills and experience.

Elevator study of social conformity

Twenty-six students participated in this year’s Testing and Measurements research project. Each year in social psychology classrooms across the country, a classic video from Candid Camera (1962) is shown to illustrate social conformity. This video shows a group of men standing in an elevator engaging in unconventional behavior (facing the back of the elevator). To date, there appears to be no published study that systematically examines social conformity under the circumstances depicted in the video. Our group recently investigated this phenomena, read more about this research and our results.

Child Development course redesigned

Responding to student feedback and enthusiasm, Dr. Wosmek recently redesigned the Child Development course to delve deeper into the field of child development. Students are now reading over eight graduate level books covering a variety of current topics important to the field.

Group job interviews

Students in Supervised Study participated in group interviews that are designed to mirror the most challenging interview experiences graduates will face when applying for internships, jobs, and graduate school positions. Taking turns facing off against the rest of the class, students presented their resume and then interviewed for a mock position. By preparing for difficult scenarios in important interviews, our students gain the skills necessary to secure real-world opportunities and ultimately meet their professional goals.